My SO is Vietnamese. He didn’t come to the U.S. until the 80s. He and his family have many bad stories about the Communists.
I lived for a few years as a teen in Franco’s Spain.
Just last week I met a couple who have very recently returned from serving as Peace Corps Volunteers in Togo. The woman told me that the people there were extremely impressed with Americans for electing a black president, and as an example, she told me about how she attended a birthday party for a young boy in her extended host family. Everyone went around and said what they hoped the boy could accomplish when he grows up; they jokingly said that maybe he could grow up to be president of the United States!
The idea that he could grow up to the president of Togo is too far-fetched, apparently.
I lived in West Berlin during the late 70’s and into the mid 80’s.
Back then, purely because I earned little money West Berlin, I would go to East Berlin on the weekends and transfer money on the black market (4 to 1) and would hang out at the bars in the east.
Got to meet lots of people in East Berlin and even had a lover who lived there - I would go almost every weekend just to hang out, hit the bars, go to parties at private homes.
It was interesting, to say the least. As an American, I could go over with a 24 hour visa, so sometimes if there were lots of parties and things going on, I would go over Friday night, come back to West Berlin Saturday and then go right back into East Berlin and be back in West Berlin on Sunday and ready for work in West Berlin on Monday.
What a difference just crossing a street meant (after border checks and passport stamps and barbed wire and guards with machine guns).
The clique I hung out with in East Berlin hated the government/regime and made no secret of it - a few got in some trouble because of it.
Nobody ever thought the Wall would come down in their lifetime, let alone just a few years later.
Lots of memories of limited consumer goods over there - although they usually had the basics of bread, milk, eggs, cheese - and drab clothing and truly ugly household furnishings - but boy did they ever have lots and lots of beer and schnaps! Lots of other interesting memories about the people and conversations and lifestyle - but that would take a novel to write about that.
Great, you have your NaNoWriMo subject!
My first thought to this OP was “The Bible Belt.” You are either one of us or we’ll make you one of us.